"Oklahoma Executes Death Row Inmate for 2002 Murders"

Oklahoma executed Michael Dewayne Smith, who was convicted of killing two people in 2002, marking the state's first execution of the year. Smith, who maintained his innocence, was put to death by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. His appeals for clemency based on substance abuse and intellectual disability were unsuccessful, and the execution proceeded despite his denials of involvement in the murders. Oklahoma had previously paused executions due to botched lethal injections but resumed capital punishments in 2021.